


The Difference Between Us

by Raltsun



Series: Differences [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen, Original Character-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:34:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21962935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raltsun/pseuds/Raltsun
Summary: This is the story of a hopeful orphan who lives for life itself, a cold-blooded sniper hiding her true face from the world, a stoic guardian chained by his duty, and a prideful genius with a body marked by miracle and tragedy alike.They, along with many others, have gathered at Beacon Academy — the grandest of the four institutes dedicated to raising mankind's strongest line of defence against the Creatures of Grimm — in pursuit of their dreams. Whether it's love, fame, a cause to believe in, or the sight of a job well done, everyone has something they're hoping to find.
Series: Differences [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1581103
Kudos: 3





	The Difference Between Us

_ ‘Why'd you abandon them, anyway? Felt like you deserved more? Or just wanted your own life without 'em?’ _ _   
_ _   
_ _ ‘Living like that was... not right for me. For us. He tried to make me want to stay, but it was only good for them.’ _ _   
_ _   
_ _ ‘Outside that life, you were a complete nobody. How does leaving help anyone but you if you leave who you were along with it?’ _ _   
_ _   
_ _ ‘Who I am isn't just my name. It's what I can do for the world.’ _

*** * ***

**_3:48 PM – 1/11/3550 – Royal Valean Calendar_ **

**_2 years before the Fall_ **

Cerise felt a warm red glow against her eyelids. Then she noticed there was a steady, unnatural hum, followed by the erratic, but more natural, sound of people talking. She tried to focus her mind; feeling a pleasant lack of malice from the souls around her, she shifted in her seat. At this point Cerise realised she was not lying down like usual, but sitting up, though slightly off-balance. The taste of apple juice also became apparent, lingering in her mouth from when she boarded the airship.

  
_ ‘Oh, right. The airship.’  _ Cerise yawned, stretching her arms out.

Cerise gasped, jolting herself wide awake. “Wait, did I sleep for too long?” She looked up at the wall in front of her. There wasn’t a clock on it. “Is this thing going to land soon?”

“The clock’s over there.” Cerise heard a deep, gruff voice reply from beside her. She froze, resisting the urge to jump in fright.  _ ‘Oh no no no, please don’t be mad at me already…’ _

Cerise slowly leaned away from the speaker, turning her head to look at him. She found herself staring directly at a rather muscular shoulder, covered in patched-up layers of leather armour. She tilted her head further upwards, seeing the man’s stern face as he stared down at her.

“No, not this way. Over there, to your left.” He raised his other hand, pointing at the far end of the room, and Cerise turned around to check. On the wall, she saw… some kind of green, circular object. It didn’t look anything like any clock she’d seen — there was no screen with numbers on it, just a ring of twelve leaves around the edge, and a pair of crossed axes pointing to the sides, . Those parts were clearly meant to look like the emblem of Vale, but did they use them as clocks here too? It looked more like a sundial, except… it had two markers. And a roof over it. And it was flat, and  _ sideways _ , so whatever kind of clock this was, it definitely wasn’t a sundial.

As Cerise stared at the clock, her thoughts started to wander. Beacon Academy was for the best of the best, and just being accepted as a student would be a great success for most. She’d been told that much many times, and the pictures she was shown of it gave her some idea of what to expect to see. But now that she was looking at a clock built in the shape of Vale’s emblem, made just for the new students to look at on their way to the Kingdom’s grandest building, it started to sink in.

This whole ‘going to Beacon’ thing was going to be a really big deal for the next few years. One that would involve way more than four people paying attention to her — which she was going into with a lot of things she didn’t know, and only two people to help her out, who weren’t even on this airship right now.

“You okay there?” the boy asked. “You look scared.”

Cerise twisted around with a jolt, realising he was still watching her. “N-no, not at all! I’m… wait, uh, I mean I’m not  _ scared _ at all. I’m completely okay here, actually!” She forced herself to smile, slowly leaning away as he responded with a frown. “Thank you very much for helping me, I mean, but I think I should… keep a closer eye on that clock. So I can get ready for the landing.”

“Right,” he sighed, his expression unchanging. “Good luck at Beacon.”

“You too, thank you, bye!” Cerise quickly slid over to the end of the bench, incredibly glad nobody had been sitting to her left, and sighed.

As Cerise stared at the clock, trying her hardest to look like she knew what it meant, the speakers interrupted her wondering with a loud buzz.

_ Attention all passengers. The Grimm incursion en route has been resolved safely. Our arrival has been delayed to approximately 16:03, therefore, we are now due to land within 15 minutes. We apologise for the inconvenience. _

_ ‘...Well, that’s not  _ totally _ inconvenient, at least,’ _ Cerise thought. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for the others, even if it was only three minutes, but at least it was helpful for  _ someone _ , even if it was only her. At least she had a little more time to… try and make friends.  _ ‘Wait, I was meant to be doing that this whole time, wasn’t I?’ _

Cerise sat up, glancing at everyone around her. There had to be at least thirty other people here — that wasn't a lot of people if she just had to help them, but  _ talking _ to thirty people? Learning all their names and personalities, and getting them to like her? Just trying to imagine it made her dizzy.

Even worse, however, she had very little time to try.  _ ‘Fifteen minutes, thirty people… that’s two friends every minute, and maybe even more! There’s no way I can do that!’ _ Cerise thought. Even so, she had to try her best. No matter how many friends she could’ve made if she had more time, she was here with less than fifteen minutes left. And less than one friend.

_ ‘Wait, that’s it!’ _ Cerise realised.  _ ‘One friend is better than no friends. Sahra should be happy with that, right?’ _ She thought back to earlier in the day, recalling her sister’s advice.  _ ‘Just find someone who looks good, maybe a nice-looking girl if you can, and go say hello to them.’ _

“Okay, you can do this,” Cerise murmured. Her eyes darted around the room, full of people who already had someone to talk to. “There has to be  _ someone _ here…”

She pushed herself up from the bench, wobbling slightly. Now that she tried standing up, the fact that she was in a flying box made of metal and glass — going very far, very fast, and very high in the air, and only being kept steady by complicated machines and a lot of Dust — seemed a lot more obvious. But she couldn’t just sit back down and wait for something to happen.

Cerise leaned against the wall, and tried searching again. As she shuffled along towards the other side of the room, she saw a red-haired boy sitting on the bench. Maybe he’d— wait, no, he was looking at her. Cerise couldn’t see his eyes very well from here, but he looked like he’d noticed her. 

Cerise froze on the spot, glancing away. She tried to imagine walking over to him with a smile, but that stare… no, that wasn’t going to work. She couldn’t just walk up to someone who was watching her like that. They’d probably find it creepy, if she could even get close enough to say anything.

She looked around again, knowing she had to find someone else — someone on their own, who wasn’t looking at her. Eventually, she settled on a green-cloaked girl with long braids of black hair, silently looking down upon the buildings of Vale outside the windows.

Taking a deep breath, Cerise stepped away from the wall. She slipped through the crowded room, pausing a few times as her legs wobbled, but managed to keep herself standing. Before long, she found herself standing behind the other girl.  _ ‘Alright, here goes. I’ve got this…’ _ Cerise prepared herself, and leaned in to tap the girl on the shoulder.

“Hello, excuse me, would you like to— whoa!” Cerise’s attempt at a greeting was harshly interrupted by her balance failing her. She yelped in shock as she fell into the other girl, her forehead slamming into the glass window with a loud _ smack _ as Cerise herself fell down backwards.

  
“A-are you okay? I’m sorry, that was an accident!” She stammered out an apology, silently cursing her luck. She watched fearfully as her ‘new friend’ gave her a piercing, venomous glare, barely noticing the collar hiding the lower half of the girl’s scowling face.

“What the hell was that for—?!” The girl hissed at Cerise, still clutching her forehead in pain, but paused suddenly. She blinked in surprise at the apology, visibly at a loss for words, before responding much more quietly. “...Sorry. I guess that wasn't intentional.”

  
Staring up at the other girl’s face, Cerise decided to stop and look at her for a moment, not wanting to act too fast. Her skin was almost pure white, much paler than various brown tones Cerise was used to from her time in the deserts of Vacuo. Her eyes were a dark red-brown, seeming to glare at Cerise even as she apologised. Cerise also noticed that her mouth and neck were completely hidden under an oversized, upturned green collar.   
  


“Are you… alright there?” The girl gazed down at her in what seemed like curiousity, though no emotion was visible even in the half of her face that Cerise could see.

“I-I’m fine, really!” Cerise shook herself out of her confusion, carefully taking the other girl’s hand and standing up. “I just got a little bit distracted, that’s all. So, um…” Cerise coughed awkwardly, trying to clear her throat. “Can we try the first greeting again?” Cerise smiled nervously, almost certain that she’d ruined her chances with a first meeting like this.   
  
“Sure.” The girl cleared her throat in return, tucking a stray braid of hair behind her ear. “My name is May. Nice to meet you.” Even though the girl — May, she said her name was — seemed more polite now, there was no emotion in her voice either. “So, why exactly did you come over here?”

  
“I’m Cerise, and it’s, uh, nice to meet you too May! Anyway, I’m... not really good with people, but if we’re going to Beacon Academy, we’ll all have to learn how to work with other people, won't we? And you look like a nice enough girl to start with, so I wanted to try saying hello, and maybe being your friend. I mean, that’s how my sister said I should do this…” Cerise trailed off, thinking about the real reason behind her sister’s advice.  _ ‘Sahra probably wanted me to find nice-looking girls for her sake. I guess she knows more about this than I do, though...’ _

  
May glanced up at Cerise. She seemed to be interested so far. “Well then… Sssarise, was it? Sorry, I'm bad with names.”

Cerise paused for a second at May’s reaction, not really expecting a reply about her name of all things. “Oh, that's okay. It's actually  _ Sa-ri-say _ , and it's spelt… actually, uh, never mind.” She gave May a nervous smile, trying to suppress the urge to cringe at herself.  _ ‘C'mon Cerise, don't mess this up twice!’ _

“Oh, thanks. If it’s any consolation, I've seen weirder names than that.” May paused for a moment, staring silently. Cerise glanced away from her in response, unsure what she was thinking. As well as what ‘consolation’ meant. “...Anyway, alright. I’ll accept your offer, Cerise.”

“You wouldn't mind being my first friend? Well, thanks!” Cerise smiled broadly, allowing a brief moment of awkward silence to pass by before talking some more. “So, May… why’d you decide to come to Beacon? That’s something friends talk about, right?”

  
“Huh?” May lightly tugged her collar upwards, pausing before she answered. “I… would rather not talk about that, but if you must know, you could say it’s what my mother wanted. That’s enough. What about you, Cerise?”

  
“Actually, I did it because my mother wanted me to become a Huntress too!” Cerise smiled brightly, completely contrasting the tone of May’s answer. “I think you'd like her, actually. She’s really awesome, and she's smart, and she’s kind too! Anyway, we made a deal that I just had to do my best to become a Huntress, with her training me, and she’d…” Cerise trailed off, cringing slightly as she realised she was saying far too much. “Actually, n-never mind. Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. Your mother sounds... quite dedicated, I suppose.” May pulled her collar up higher, the black lining nearly reaching up to her eyes, which earned a curious glance from Cerise.

“Now that I think about it...” Cerise murmured quietly as she thought, her eyes scanning over May for something to say. “What's with the collar? I mean, don't take this the wrong way, I don't dislike it or anything. Actually, I think it looks kinda... cute, I guess? It's just unusual, isn't it?”

  
“I don't like showing my face in public,” May replied bluntly. “In fact, I prefer people not seeing it at all.” 

Cerise frowned, confused. “I’m sure it’s not  _ that _ bad, right?” May didn’t respond, but from her stare, she clearly didn’t seem convinced. “I mean, unless something really bad happened to you, in which case I’m sorry, I’m sure you’re fine! ...But, uh, I guess it’s fine if you don’t wan—”

  
_ “Attention all passengers. We are now arriving at Beacon Academy.” _ Cerise glanced up at the speakers, the harsh crackle of the announcement’s end stirring the crowd of students into swarming around the doors.  _ ‘Wait, already? That was so quick!’ _   
  


“Finally,” May sighed, drawing her attention back to their talk. “ Here we are. Bye, Cerise. Go take a good space in the queue or something.”

“Wait, why?” Looking over at the shorter girl, Cerise tilted her head in confusion. “It’s not like that makes the queue move any faster, it just means everyone behind me has to wait longer instead. And if it matters more than that for some reason, why aren’t you going too?”

May paused for a moment, her eyes widening. “...If I can, I prefer having a clear view of everyone I might have to deal with later. That includes you.”

“Oh, so you want to keep an eye out for me?” Cerise smiled. “Thanks! But, uh… wouldn’t that be easier if we go together, so there  _ aren’t _ a bunch of people in the way? Besides, if you just wanna get to know me better, I’m sure we’ll have time for that later, right?”

  
May didn’t say anything. The two girls silently looked at each other for a while, May's slight frown doing little to reveal her thoughts to Cerise.

“...You know, I don’t think we can stay on this airship forever. So, see you later, I guess? I mean, not that I don't want to stick with you, but I really don't want to keep the twins waiting again—” Cerise turned to walk towards the exit, but stopped as soon as she heard May reply.

“Wait,” May interrupted, her calm tone faltering slightly. “If you don't mind, can I go with you?”   
  
“You want to come along, May? Of course you can, that sounds great!” Cerise grinned joyfully, failing to restrain her excitement at her brand new friend actually wanting to be around her for longer. May responded with a nod, and the two of them left the airship together, taking their first steps onto the grounds of Beacon Academy.


End file.
